Timing watch



June 24 1924. 1,498,749

w. E. PORTER TIMING WATCH Filed Feb. 7, 192a Patented June 24, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE".-

WILSON E. PORTER, E NEXV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NEW HAVEN CLOCK 00., OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

TIMING WATCH.

Application filed February 7, 1923. Serial No. 617,473.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILsoN E. Pon'rnn,

a citizen of the United States, .residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Timing atches; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this application, and represent, in-

Fig. 1 a view in front elevation of a timing watch constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 a broken, sectional view thereof, with the stopping-and-starting device positioned as for stopping the watch.

Fig. 3 a broken, edgeview, looking in the direction of the arrow 3 on Fig. 1.

Fig. at a detached, erspective view of the stopping-and-starting spring of the device.

Fig. 5 a similar inside view of the slide, by which the said spring is operated.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of watches designed with particular reference to use in timing sports, such as football, basketball, and like games in which the referee or spectator desires to subtract, from any given time-limit, such time or times as may be taken out to cover casualties, or any other untoward circumstances interfering with the progress of the game, the object being to produce, at a low cost, a simple, reliable and convenient standard watch in nowise disqualified for use as a time-piece, but also serving for timing sports, when the occasion for such use arises. Though primarily designed for sports timing, my improved watch may be used for job-timing, and in all situations calling for the measurement of the time consumed by any given isolated event.

WVith these ends in view, my invention consists in a timing watch characterized by having a fully-equipped time-mechanism for keeping time in the manner of any standard time-piece in combination with a stoppingand-starting device, by means of which the said time-mechanism may be stopped and started as desired, with or without resetting the time-mechanism.

My invention further consists in a timing Watch of the character described, having certain details of construction and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

I11 carrying out my invention, as herein shown, I employ a stopping-and-starting spring 10, the body of which is adapted in width and curvature to be set Within the center-band 11 of a standard watch-case. As shown, the upper end of the spring is perforated, as at 12, for the reception of a rivet 13, by which it is secured in place inthe said band. About midway of its length, the spring is bent inwardly to form-a cam 14, which merges at the lower end into'a-ninwardly-turned, narrow springrfingei" 15'," adapted in form and reach to have wiping? co-action with a roller 16 upon the staff 17 of the balance-wheel 18 of the time move ment, which may be of any standard construction, and which isstructurally unmodified by my present improvement. The saidspring is shaped and set so that normally thefinger will clear the roller 16, as shown in Fig. 1.

For operating the spring. 10, to move its linger 15 into wiping engagement with the roller 17, I employ a stud 19, extending inwardly from and carried by a slide 20 conforming in longitudinal and lateral curvature to the exterior surface of the centerband 11, upon which it rides with a moderate amount of friction, the said slide having the outer end of thestudriveted into it at about midway of its length. The stud has its inner edges rounded, for engagement with the said cam 14, over which it rides when the slide is moved upward toward the watch-pendant- 21, mounted, as usual, inthe band 11. At its extreme inner end the stud is formed with astem 22, which extends through a narrow slot 23 formed in the cam 1d and extending slightly beyond the ends thereof, this slot being adapted in length to limit the movement of the slide in either direction by the engagement of the stud 22- with its respective ends. The outer portion of the stud is reduced in diameter as at 24 to permit the said portion to reciprocate in the narrow part of a key-hole, or installa tion-slot, 25 formed in the band 11 for the mounting of the device therein, the circular upper portion of this key-hole slot being adapted in diameter to permit the introduction through it of the stud 19, the outer edge thereof forming a shoulder 26 which engages with and rides upon the inner face of the band 11 on opposite sides of the narrow lower portion of the said key-hole slot. In installing the device, the stud 19 is inserted through the circular upper end of the said key-hole slot and moved downward until its stem 22 snaps into the slot 23 in the spring 10, at which time the shoulder 26 of the stud 19 will be engaged with the band 10 on opposite sides of the key-hole slot 25, whereby the slide and its stud will be interlocked with the band with limited longitudinal movement with respect thereto, predetermined by the length of the slot 23.

To stop the watch, it is only necessary to engage the exterior surface of the slide 20 with the finger and press the same gently upward, whereby the stud 19 will engage with and ride over the cam 14L ofthe spring 10, which will be forced inward so as to engage its wiping finger 15 with the roller 16 of the balance-staff 17, the finger 15 being slightly compressed at this time. 'To re-start the watch, the slide is pushed downward by the finger, so as to ride over the cam 14 of the spring 10, which will reassert itself so as to move its finger 15 away fromthe roller 16 with a slight wiping action sufficient to start the time-movement running again. The mode of using the watch as a timer will depend upon circumstances,and the personal liking of the user, who may or may not set the time-mechanism to zero before he begins the use of the watch as a timer.-

It will be noted that my improved stopping-and-starting device is self-contained and organized independently of the timemovement, which may be of any standard construction, and requires no modification of any sort to adapt it to be'used as a feature of my improved timing watch.

My improved timing watch combines the advantages of a time-piece for keeping time, like any standard watch, and of the timers heretofore limited to be used as such and not adapted to be used as time-pieces. Preferably, the stopping device will be self-contained, and installed in the watch-case, but this is not essential to the practice of my invention.

I claim:

' 1. In a combined timepiece and timer, the combination with a case therefor, of a timemovement furnished with an hour-hand, a

minute-hand and a seconds-pointer; and a manually-operable, self-contained stoppingand-starting device installed exclusively in gagement with a running part of the movement, and to release it to clear the same.

2. In a combined timepiece and timer, the combination with a case therefor, of a time movement furnished with an hour-hand, a minute-hand and a seconds-pointer; and a self-contained stopping-and-starting device exclusively installed in the center band of the case and comprising a longitudinally bowed spring located within the said band,

Iastened at one 8110. thereto and having its opposite end positioned to be moved into wlping co-act1on with a running part of the time-movement and provided between its ends with a cam, a shde imposed upon the outer surface of the said band, and an in wardlyprojecting stud carried by the said slide, passing through the said band and co-acting with the said cam to move the said spring inward to engage with the running part of the time-movement for stopping the same.

3. In a timing watch, the combination with the center-band of the case thereof, of the balance-staff of a time-movement, and a self-contained starting-and-stopping device installed in the said band and comprising a spring located within the said band, fastened at one end thereto, bent to form a cam, and having a finger positioned to have wiping co-action with the said balancestalf, a slide imposed upon the exterior surface of the said band, and an inward1y-e xtending stud carried by the said slide, passing through a key-hole slot in the said band, with which it coo-acts to hold'the slide in place, and also co-acting with the said cam, and having a'stem passing through a slot in the spring and limiting the longitudinal movementof the slide.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILSON E."PORTER.

W'itnesses: V

FREDERIO C. EARLE, MALCOLM P. 'NICHOLS. 

